People of African-Caribbean descent are far more likely to be held in police cells and strip-searched, according to an official report, which also warns that children and vulnerable people are often unnecessarily criminalized.

The report by Her
Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for England and Wales
(HMIC) found that children, vulnerable people and the mentally
ill are being locked in cells and sometimes unnecessarily
criminalized because police custody is being used as a substitute
for social and health care.

The report, titled, “The welfare of vulnerable people in
police custody,” commissioned in 2014 by Home Secretary
Theresa May, found police forces “did not have sufficient
data and other information to demonstrate to the communities they
service that all people who come into contact with the police are
treated fairly and safely.”

“While 3 percent of the population was from African-Caribbean
groups in the forces we inspected, people from these backgrounds
represented 9 percent of the custody throughput, and 17 percent
of those strip-searched.”

Research conducted by the National Centre for Social Research
(NatCen) found that people detained held “a strong view that
strip searches were undignified and degrading” and that
some, including children, had agreed to remove their clothes so
that police officers would not forcibly remove them.

In January 2014, a report revealed that people from black and
minority ethnic backgrounds accounted for more than half of those
strip-searched by the Metropolitan Police between 2010 and 2013.
Of the 94,448 people who were searched by the Met following
arrest, 52.5 percent were from African-Caribbean, Asian and other
minority groups.

By law, strip searches can only be used on people under arrest,
in cells at police stations or detention centers. They cannot be
used as routine and must be approved by an inspector.

The latest report adds to mounting concerns that vulnerable
people are being detained often unnecessarily.

In February, appeal judges ruled that although stripping a
distressed and vulnerable 14-year-old girl of her clothes when
she arrived at a police station may not be the best way to cope
with the risk of suicide, Merseyside police officers did not
breach the teenager’s right to privacy.

The ruling follows claims that more forces are strip-searching
children, not to look for hidden evidence like drugs, but to
ensure they do not attempt to self-harm or hang themselves while
in police custody.

The report also examined the demographic of those put in police
cells. Among them was a 90-year-old dementia patient who was
arrested after being violent toward staff, as well as a girl who
had fought with her sister over a TV remote control.

HM Inspector of Constabulary Dru Sharpling said although police
generally responded to the challenge of protecting vulnerable
people, “it is clear police custody provision has to improve
to ensure that vulnerable people are safeguarded effectively and,
where appropriate, diverted from the criminal justice
system.”

“Each public service must fully discharge its
responsibilities to ensure that police custody does not become
the default option for vulnerable people in need of care.”

May said the report “makes clear how much more remains to be
done to ensure that those who end up in police cells, especially
those in custody for their own safety, receive proper treatment
and respect.”

“I have always been clear that the use of force must be
lawful, proportionate and necessary in all the circumstances,
that people experiencing a mental health crisis should receive
health-based care and support rather than being held in a police
cell, and that children charged with an offense should be
transferred to suitable local authority accommodation instead of
being detained overnight.”